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For Complex News, I'm Sean Evans and earlier this year, the NPD group named Rihanna the
most marketable celebrity in the world and for good reason.
Per Fashionista, Puma has seen a currency-adjusted sales increase of 7.3 percent in 2016's first
quarter, || The brand vaunts total sales of about $973 million dollars in quarter one.
Puma credits footwear—specifically, "the successful launches of women’s silhouettes"—as
the biggest driver of growth.
In sum, it would appear that the marketing partnership with Rihanna and that "measly
million" the brand gave Kylie Jenner are paying off.
Puma pointed to Rihanna's New York Fashion Week show last year as a bit of a turning
point for the brand, as it ultimately led to the Fenty trainers || and fur slides selling
like hot cakes.
In fact, since Puma inked Rihanna as a creative director in 2014, the women's vertical has
continued to see steady growth, || thanks in part to the inexplicably popular suede
creepers.
"We are especially happy to see that our sell through to consumers is improving," Puma's
CEO said in a statement, "This is especially strong in our women’s business, where the
launches of new products and new marketing concepts have started to show excellent results."
On Friday, Puma's CEO went on to say that he thinks the Rihanna partnership will help
the brand catch their German rival adidas. That's the news for now, but for more, subscribe
to Complex News on YouTube today.